Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Costello, John Aloysius

(Encyclopedia)Costello, John Aloysius, 1891–1976, Irish political leader. A barrister, he joined the attorney general's office of the newly founded Irish Free State in 1922. In 1926 he became attorney general und...

Hull, Cordell

(Encyclopedia)Hull, Cordell kôrdĕlˈ [key], 1871–1955, American statesman, b. Overton co. (now Pickett co.), Tenn. Admitted to the bar in 1891, he sat (1893–97) in the Tennessee legislature and, after service...

embezzlement

(Encyclopedia)embezzlement, wrongful use, for one's own selfish ends, of the property of another when that property has been legally entrusted to one. Such an act was not larceny at common law because larceny was c...

Bland, Richard Parks

(Encyclopedia)Bland, Richard Parks, 1835–99, American statesman, b. near Hartford, Ky. He taught in rural schools in Kentucky and Missouri before he went to the gold fields of California in 1855. He was a prospec...

sedative

(Encyclopedia)sedative, any of a variety of drugs that relieve anxiety. Most sedatives act as mild depressants of the nervous system, lessening general nervous activity or reducing the irritability or activity of a...

barbiturate

(Encyclopedia)barbiturate bärbĭchˈərātˌ [key], any one of a group of drugs that act as depressants on the central nervous system. High doses depress both nerve and muscle activity and inhibit oxygen consumpti...

Dumbartonshire

(Encyclopedia)Dumbartonshire or Dunbartonshire, former county, W central Scotland. Under the Local Government Act of 1973, the county of Dumbartonshire (or Dumbarton) became (1975) part of the new Strathclyde regio...

Columbus Day

(Encyclopedia)Columbus Day, holiday commemorating Christopher Columbus's discovery of America. It has been traditionally celebrated on Oct. 12 throughout most of the United States, parts of Canada, and in several o...

Cleveland, former county, England

(Encyclopedia)Cleveland, former county, NE England, created under the Local Government Act of 1972 (effective 1974). It was composed of the county boroughs of Hartlepool and Teesside and parts of the former countie...

Lewis, Francis

(Encyclopedia)Lewis, Francis, 1713–1802?, political leader in the American Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. Llandaff, Wales. As clothing contractor for British troops during the French an...